The Best of Exploration: Top 8 Stories of Space Exploration in 2012

Our recap of the year’s best exploratory exploits continues today with a look at the biggest developments in space exploration. 2012 saw the stunning debut of new spacecraft (Curiosity), the continued contributions of geriatric ones (Voyager), and the first full year since the end of the Space Shuttle program. Casey Dreier of The Planetary Society nominated 8 particularly meaningful developments from the last twelve months.

1. Exoplanets, Near and Far

It’s been another good year for exoplanets, as the Kepler mission entered its extended mission with 105 confirmed planets under its belt. A different group of researchers, working with data from a telescope in Chile, found a planet orbiting our closest stellar neighbor – Alpha Centauri. The planet speeds around its star at a distance of just 6 million kilometers; for comparison, mercury only gets as close as 46 million kilometers to our Sun.

2. Mars Rover Curiosity

On August 5th, the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft cut through the Martian atmosphere, deployed a supersonic parachute, and lowered the Curiosity rover from a hovering, retro-rocket-powered platform, placing it gently on the surface. The mind-boggling sequence of events, nicely dramatized in the viral video “7 Minutes of Terror,” went down perfectly, marking the beginning of the mission’s geological exploration of Gale Crater. Over the next several months, the car-sized machine underwent deliberate testing and tentative drives to make sure the payload was in working order. In the process, the science team found small organic molecules (of uncertain origin) and evidence of ancient water flow “somewhere between ankle and hip deep,” according to co-investigator William Dietrich. In 2013, Curiosity will make its way to the towering Mount Sharp, where it will zap and sniff layered rock deposits to determine if habitable conditions once existed in Gale Crater.

3. Private Spaceflight Takes Off … For Real This Time

The private space industry has been making noise for a while now, signing up willing customers for suborbital flights and casting reality shows to help fund a mission to Mars, but its accomplishments had been rather spotty. Until this year, that is, when SpaceX became the first company to successfully deliver cargo to the International Space Station. Of course, most of the company’s money is coming from NASA at this point, but proponents point to SpaceX’s lack of red tape, innovative technologies, and bold vision as game-changers. The company has signed contracts with private and public partners alike, forming a promising foundation for a sustainable and profitable mode of space travel and transportation. To many new graduates, SpaceX has become the “it” place to work, playing a rocket scientist’s Google to NASA’s IBM.

4. A Long, Long Voyage

The Voyager spacecraft are our most well traveled probes, high-tailing it toward the outer edge of our Solar System since 1977. The mission celebrated 35 years of operations this year, and marked the occasion by discovering a new region of the solar system. Previous estimates placed Voyager 1 outside the Sun’s reach, but instead, it’s reached “a magnetic highway where the magnetic field of the Sun is connected to the outside,” according to Project Scientist Ed Stone. Because the magnetic field lines haven’t changed direction, the team still believes Voyager is officially still in the Solar System, but it likely won’t be for long.

5. The Holy GRAIL of Lunar Gravity Mapping

The GRAIL mission comprised twin spacecraft – with two of the best names in recent memory, Ebb and Flow – tasked with mapping the Moon’s gravitational field and internal structure. The orbiters acquired data for nearly 12 months, producing beautiful detailed maps of surface and subsurface features. In the Bouguer gravity anomaly map above, contributions from surface features like mountains and valleys are removed; results indicate variations in crustal thickness or rock density. Based on this latest mine of data, the GRAIL team has shown that a very thin veneer of crust underlies some of the largest impact basins like Crisium and Moscoviense. On December 17th, Ebb and Flow enacted a kamikaze maneuver, crashing into the surface near the north Lunar pole and conducting a final experiment on the surface’s properties in the process.

6. A Disappointing Budget

Not all was exciting new discoveries and dramatic Mars landings in the world of space exploration: The proposed FY2013 NASA budget put a damper on scientific successes by slashing the planetary science program. The draft budget lowered planetary science’s slice of the pie from $1.5 billion to $1.2 billion, a cut of 20 percent during a period of remarkable accomplishments. In response to the news, NASA was forced to back out of international partnerships on missions such as the Mars Trace Gas Orbiter and the ExoMars rover. To some NASA scientists, the budget proposal was both troubling and perplexing. As scientist Jim Bell explained to the Planetary Society, "How many government programs can you think of that consistently fill people with pride, awe, and wonder? NASA's planetary exploration program is one of the few, and so it seems particularly ironic and puzzling that it has been so specifically targeted for such drastic budget cuts.”

Image: An artist's conception of the European Space Agency's ExoMars rover. (Credit: ESA)

7. Departures

This year saw the departures of two giants in American space exploration history. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space and a passionate advocate of science education, died in July. Neil Armstrong, the man who will forever be enshrined as the first to walk on the Moon and a gracious celebrity who seemed bewildered by his fame, passed away at the age of 82.

Image: Sally Ride, and Neil Armstrong (Credit: NASA)

8. Space Shuttle Fly-Overs

With NASA’s manned spaceflight workhorses –- the Space Shuttles –- out of commission to make way for the Space Launch System, the agency moved the remaining orbiters to science museums across the country. Explorer, a full-scale model, was moved from Florida to Houston by barge, Enterprise was shifted from Washington, D.C. to New York City, and Atlantis was delivered to Kennedy Space Center. In April, Discovery –- bolted to the top of the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft –- took a victory lap over the D.C. region before landing. The flyover went viral, as residents pointed camera phones skyward, intrigued by their incongruous visitor. In response to the attention generated by the event, Endeavour had an even busier flyover schedule for its journey from Florida to Los Angeles. The Shuttles’ last hurrah was an opportunity to reflect on the program’s longevity, successes, and failures, and wonder what the next chapter of NASA’s manned spaceflight program will bring.

Endeavour flies over iconic burger joint In N Out before landing at LAX. (Credit: Geoffrey Ravenhill)